Take Heed of the Examples But Remember the Promises

Recently, I have been meditating on 1 Corinthians 10:1-13. Paul begins this passage (verses 2-3) pointing out the great advantages and grace that God had shed on the people of Israel as they were brought out of Egypt. He says they "were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea" or in other words they were partakers of the miracles of God's continuing presence in the guiding them with the cloud as well as seeing the great miracle of the Red Sea parting. He goes on to show how they partook of the same spiritual food and drink probably alluding to the manna and water that God provided for them again in miraculous fashion. Finally, Paul says that these people drank for the Spiritual Rock of Christ once again referring to how God provided water to them from a Rock. All these physical miracles during the Exodus were Spiritual types pointing to Christ.

Paul then changes gears from the activities of grace that God provided for them to their actions in response. He says that although God granted these great blessings to them, He was not pleased with most of them (verse 5). Paul specifically says that these actions are examples for us "so that we will not desire evil as they did." What were the actions of some of these people which we are to take heed:

1. They were idolaters (1 Corinthians 10:7 quoting Exodus 32:6 which deals with the events of the golden calf)
2. They were immoral (1 Corinthians 10:8 pointing to the events of Numbers 25:1-9)
3. They put Christ to the test (1 Corinthians 10:9 pointing to the events of Numbers 21:5-9 when the people complained about God's provision and God sent poisonous snakes)
4. They complained against God (1 Corinthians 10:10 pointing to the events of Numbers 16:41-50 when the people again complained against God's dealing through Moses and Aaron and God send a plague)

Paul shows that many were cut down in the wilderness because of these sinful action. These things should serve as examples to us to keep us from evil. In 1 Corinthians 10:12, Paul writes, " So let the one who thinks he is standing be careful that he does not fall" Why would he says this? Well, he has just shown that many people who had experienced many of God's miraculous wonders still turned to sin. If they, who beheld these wonders, could so easily turn to sin, then we too, who have not seen the Red Sea part, manna falling from heaven, or water suddenly coming from a rock, can also easily turn to sin.

The questions comes - will remembering these examples keep us from sin? Well, they certainly will help - but the glorious promise of 1 Corinthians 10:13 will aid us in our battle to put evil to death in our lives.

No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.

God has promised:

1. That we will never face a temptation that is extraordinary.
2. The He (God ) is faithful to His promises.
   
3. That we will never face a temptation that is beyond our ability to overcome.
4. That God will provide an escape with every temptation we face.
5. Because of the above truths, we can endure.

How often do we drift into self pity over temptations thinking no one has ever faced the temptations like we have. We don't have the strength to fight and we can't win. To think this way flies in the face of these promises from God. As regenerate believers, we can overcome sin. God is Faithful - He will always keep His word. He tells us we can endure, we can overcome, He will always give us an escape.

The questions comes then why do we continue to choose sin when these fearful examples and glorious promises of a Faithful God are ours? Well, it still comes down to the same problem those many Israelites had - Unbelief. They did not believe God was really faithful to His promises. They did not believe God was interested in their absolute best. They did not believe obedience to God and faith in His promises was better for them than the false promises of the temptations they to which they yielded.

When we sin we have no excuse - God has provided a way of escape in every temptation. We still live in this flesh and will battle sin all the days of our physical life. And we still will sin. But what do we do when we fail as those Israelites in the wilderness. The only thing we can - flee to the cross of Christ, repent of the sin and find forgiveness in His perfect work. Find your peace of forgiveness and right standing with God through the work of Christ alone - for that is your only hope. But - go on to fight sin by believing the promises of a faithful God that will never leave or forsake you. You can overcome - you can endure. Fight with God's precious promises - especially remembering that one day He has promised that all sin will be destroyed and we as His people will no longer be even capable of sinning against Him. Take heed of these fearful examples, remember your are weak in your own self - but also remember the great promises of God to aid you in your fight by working in you to will and to do according to His good pleasure (Phillipians 2:13)

My sin, oh, the bliss of this glorious thought!
My sin, not in part but the whole,
Is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more,
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!

And Lord, haste the day when my faith shall be sight,
The clouds be rolled back as a scroll;
The trump shall resound, and the Lord shall descend,
Even so, it is well with my soul.

The Work of Christ for Sinners

We sinned, and were exposed to the curse. The Word that was with God, and was God, then was made flesh. The eternal Son became:

• our brother;
• took upon Himself our sin, in the way of a mysterious imputation;
• paid our debt to the majesty of the inviolable law;
• covered our nakedness with His righteousness;
• presented us, as those in whose stead He appeared, blameless and acceptable to the Father;
• excited the hallelujahs of angels at our exaltation;
• elevated us to a participation of His own riches, blessedness, and privileges;
• pitched tents of peace for us around the throne of God;
• and connected us with Himself by the bonds of eternal gratitude and affection.

Such is the edifice which the Almighty reared upon the ruins of sin; and of which the disciples, at that time, had not the remotest idea.

------- From The Suffering Saviour by F. W. Krummacher


God forgive me when I take these eternal blessings for granted by sinning against You.

No Hope Without It

I enjoy reading the biographies of Christian leaders of the past. But each October, I make it a point to read a biography leading up to Reformation Day. This year I am reading about the life and work of J. Gresham Machen in Stephen Nichols book J. Gresham Machen, A Guided Tour of His Life and Thought. Below is a telegram sent by Machen, on his deathbed, to John Murray. Machen died on January 1, 1937.

I am so thankful for [the] active obedience of Christ. No hope without it.

What a glorious statement to make upon ones deathbed. Even at the end, Machen, a stalwart defender of orthodox faith among the liberal uprising of his day, put his hope in the truth of doctrine - the doctrine of Christ substitutionary work for him. He declared that without this truth of Christ active obedience, he had no hope. May all of us who call ourselves Christians breath our last breath with this truth upon our lips. Without Christ's work, there is no hope. When we come to this time of our lives, and yes we will come to it, may we be both thankful and hopeful. Yes, may we live well, but may we also die well. May the song on our hearts be that of the hymn "Solid Rock" by Edward Mote:

My hope is built on nothing less
Than Jesus’ blood and righteousness.
I dare not trust the sweetest frame,
But wholly trust in Jesus’ Name.

When darkness seems to hide His face,
I rest on His unchanging grace.
In every high and stormy gale,
My anchor holds within the veil.

His oath, His covenant, His blood,
Support me in the whelming flood.
When all around my soul gives way,
He then is all my Hope and Stay.

When He shall come with trumpet sound,
Oh may I then in Him be found.
Dressed in His righteousness alone,
Faultless to stand before the throne.

On Christ the solid Rock I stand,
All other ground is sinking sand;
All other ground is sinking sand.

I tend to think this was the song on Machen's heart when he sent that telegram to his friend. He knew he would soon cross the river of death. What a magnificent joy and anticipation he had realizing that the one he had walked with on this earth in spiritual communion, he would soon see face to face in all of His glory. Indeed, there is no hope without Christ.

American Moralism

While many evangelical Christians seek to make the founding fathers of America Christian, a simple reading of what they said and what they did will show that some of the more famous ones were Deist and in fact disagreed with many foundation truths of Christianity. In fact, the only reason that some of these men held to "religion" was that they thought it was needed to help the people of the country live moral lives, which was necessary for the American experiment to succeed. Stephen Nichols brings this out in Chapter 2 of his book, Jesus Made in America. Read some of the quotes and actions of two of our leading founding fathers, Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson.

Benjamin Franklin, as a young adult, wrote the following words in a letter to his parents who were worried about some of his theological views. He wrote concerning the doctrines a person holds to by saying that if these doctrines do not

tend to make him less Virtuous, he holds none that is dangerous. . . . My Mother grieves that one of her Sons is an Arian, another an Arminian. What an Arminian or an Arian is, I cannot say that I very well know; the Truth is, I make such Distinctions very little to my Study; I think vital Religion has always suffered when Orthodoxy is more regarded than Virtue.

Later on in his life, five weeks before his death, Franklin wrote the following to Ezra Stiles, President of Yale and grandson of Jonathan Edwards, who wanted to know that truth of Franklin's faith. Franklin wrote:

As to Jesus of Nazareth, my opinion of who you particularly desire, I think the system of morals, and his religion, as he left them to us, the best the world ever saw, or is likely to see; but I apprehend it has received various corrupting changes, and I have, with most of the present dissenters in England some doubts to his divinity.

So in these two quotations, we seen Franklin admit that he thinks virtue is more important than the orthodox truth of the gospel and we see him deny the divinity of Christ. Franklin has denied the very hope of the Christian religion. If he really believed this, according to Scripture, we must ask if Franklin was truly a Christian.

On the other hand, the liberals of the 20th century have nothing on Thomas Jefferson. During his time as president and again later in life, Jefferson cut and pasted his own version of the New Testament. Since he denied that God acts in the world today, he removed all miracles from the Jefferson Version. His New Testament ended as such:

There they laid Jesus. And rolled a great stone to the door of the sepulcher, and departed. Finis

Jefferson ends his "gospel" with Jesus forever in the grave. It is really no gospel at all and offers no hope than any other religion. The apostle Paul even tells us that if Christ is not raised, we are fools and of all men, the most to be pitied. But Jefferson denies the resurrection and in essence the Christian faith. Jefferson also writes:

To the corruptions of Christianity I am indeed opposed; but not to the genuine precepts of Jesus himself. I am a Christian, in the only sense he wished any one to be; sincerely attached to his doctrines, in preference to all others; ascribing to himself every human excellence; and believing he never claimed any other.

Nichols writes, "Jefferson's self-claim to being a Christian, which often gets quoted by evangelicals, comes in the very sentence he denies the deity of Christ. In fact, Jefferson goes so far as to claim that being a Christian demands that one see Jesus as Jesus sees himself, which, according to Jefferson, was as human, never claiming divinity." Again, we see a founding father denying the very claims of Christ Himself as divine and still claiming to be Christian.

Why would Jefferson hold to Christianity while denying the foundational truths that makes it what it is? Again Nichols gives us the answer. "What he (Jefferson) liked best about Unitarianism, however, was not its doctrine, but that it presented a simple and clear morality. What mattered most to Jefferson, especially for the new republic, was that Jesus was a virtuous man." Like Franklin, Jefferson clinged to Christianity for its morals.

I write not to criticize these two men. I believed that if they believed what they wrote, they were not Christians from a Biblical standpoint. But the main purpose of this writing it to warn you that the thoughts of these two men are still rampant today. It is moralism. The belief that man can be saved and made right with God by his morality or good works. A belief that Scripture denies (Isaiah 64:6), but one that will continue until the end of time. We are conceived in sin and our works can never justify us before God. But God sent Jesus Christ. Unlike Franklin and Jefferson, the Jesus of the Bible is the God-Man who never sinned, yet died a sinner's death as a substitute for all those who would put their trust in Him. Our ONLY HOPE is to trust in His work. If we do, God credits the wrath our sins deserve on Christ, and the perfect righteousness of Christ to us. We therefore stand forgiven and are declared to be righteousness in Christ. Do not be deceived, your morality will not save you, only Jesus, the second person of the Trinity, the only way to God (John 14:6), can save you.

Meditations on Law, Judgement, and Grace

Are you a sinner deserving the wrath of God? I would think that many would say no to this question. But, I believe they are being inconsistent with their response if you consider two concepts in our society that these same people would agree with.

1. Law - The fact that nations have laws indicates that they believe there are actions that are right and actions that are wrong. Some governing body has legislated the law and it holds the citizens responsible to obey them. It really does not matter whether you agree with the rightness of a law, as a citizen of a country, you are required to obey that law. In the same way, God, the Creator and Sovereign of all that is, has also given us His law in the Bible. It does not matter whether we think it is a good law or not, we as a created being under His sovereignty are responsible to obey His law. Now the Bible goes into a lot of detail about the law, even holding every human being, even those who have never read the Bible, accountable to God and without excuse if they break His law (Romans 1-3). Just as in any country, if we disobey the law, we are law breakers. We are, therefore, what God calls us in His word - sinners.
   
   
2. Judgement - If one breaks the law in a country, they must face the consequences of that action by being judged as guilty and suffer the punishment prescribed. As your watch the news, or perhaps have been a victim of law breakers before, the cry of justice is often heard. This simply means that the law demands that a law breaker suffer the due wrath of the state for the unlawful deed. Again, in the same way, God, the law giver, has declared that all those who break His law, will be judged and face His wrath and punishment for their lawlessness. God is holy and requires perfect obedience to His law to escape the judgement of God. The book of Romans tell us that in fact all of us are sinners or law breakers(Romans 3-5). We are guilty through the imputed sin of our first father, Adam, and this inherited nature produces in us acts of disobedience. We break God's law (we sin) because we are sinners to the very core of our being. So, once again, in the same way that governing bodies punish law breakers, God also will punish law breakers. He will judge them guilty and punish them appropriately. To sin against an infinite and holy God, requires an infinite punishment.
   

While the comparison is there, what we see in the governments of men is subject to the weaknesses and frailties of men. Is the justice of men really blind? Can men really know and punish every law breaker? But God is by nature just. He defines what justice is. And God sees every thought and intention of the heart, hears every word spoken, and sees every act committed. If one is honest and consistent, one can not really say that they do not believe they are not sinners and do not deserve the eternal wrath of God. It is a hopeless situation for one to be under that wrath of God. No amount of good works will ever make one right with the law giver. The sin must be punished. If God does not punish it, he is not just. But many today rest on the thought that their good works will make them right with God - a fact that overlooks the vileness of sin and the holiness of God. Others rest on the thought that God will just forgive and forget their sin just because - a fact that overlooks the complete justice of God. Face it, you are a law breaker deserving the full judgement and punishment for your sins, an eternal punishment of never ending suffering and wrath poured out on sinners in pure justice. There will be no excuses for God know and sees all. Is there any hope?

"But God" - a glorious phrase found often in the Bible. "But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us" Romans 5:8. Yes there is only one hope. God must and will punish every act of sin. But, He has provided a substitute, Jesus Christ, His Son, who live a perfect life and did not deserve the punishment of sinners which is death. But Christ did die a sinner's death. And the Bible tells us He did it in the place of all those who would abandon any hope in themselves and put their full hope, trust and faith in Christ alone. For those who do, God credits the wrath they deserve upon His innocent Son and He credits the perfect righteousness of His Son to them. Through this legal exchange, they, therefore, can stand right with and be declared justified before God with this foreign righteousness that is not of themselves. My plea is that you stop trying to earn or gain any favor with God. You can't do it. It breaks my heart to see those caught up in the hell bound doctrine and lie of works righteousness. Flee to the only one who can help. Abandon yourself to Christ. His promises are true. He will forgive the law breaker if you will trust in His substitutionary work alone. It is not faith and works. It is faith alone. For a better summary of this good news, read this site.

Expressions of Saving Faith

In James Durham's collection of sermons on Isaiah 53, he has one sermon in which he discusses the expressions of saving faith which the Bible uses. I thought these were of interest and worth meditating upon. They are as follows:

1. Believing Christ (Acts 16:31)
2. Coming to Christ (Matthew 11:28; John 6:35)
3. Receiving Christ (John 1:12)
4. Apprehending or taking hold of Christ (Philippians 3:12; Hebrews 6:16; Isaiah 56:3)
5. Casting yourself or resting on Christ (Psalm 55:22; Psalm 37:5,7)
6. Submitting to Christ (Romans 10:2)
7. Hiding in Christ (Proverbs 8:10; Philippians 3:9; Isaiah 23:26)
8. Yielding to Christ (2 Chronicles 30:8)
9. Opening the heart to Christ (Acts 16:14)
10. Marrying Christ ( Ephesians 5:22-33)
11. Buying (Isaiah 55:1)
12. Cleaving or inclining to Christ (John 23:8; Acts 11:23; Isaiah 55:2-3)
13. Committing to Christ (Psalm 37:5; 2 Timothy 1:12)

This is quite a list and is definitely not exhaustive. I wonder if there is a book somewhere that explores these expressions of saving faith in more detail? If you happen to find one, let me know.

His Love Endures Forever

In Psalm 136, this phrase is repeated in every verse, which is a total of 26 times:

For His lovingkindness is everlasting. (NASB)

for his steadfast love endures forever (ESV)

Have you ever seen in movies, or worse, have you ever known anyone personally who comes to a point where they tell their spouse that they don't love them anymore? What is it that makes one's love for another fade? Perhaps some of these don't even have in mind the right definition of love. They have given other emotional or physical feelings the title of love. Whatever the reason, we humans are sinners and this act of "falling out of love" occurs often.

But look at this phrase found in every verse of this Psalm. God's love endures forever, it is everlasting, it has no end! No matter how we fail Him in our sin, if we are true believers, His love for us continues. We can do nothing that would cause Him to cease loving us. That is a glorious promise and truth of the Bible. This is not a licence to sin, but a great comfort during those times when we truly have blown it and acted in unbelief and disobedience. We are secure in God's love.

Luther in a letter to Melanchthon wrote the following:

If you are a preacher of mercy, do not preach an imaginary but
the true mercy. If the mercy is true, you must therefore bear the true, not an imaginary sin. God does not save those who are only imaginary sinners. Be a sinner, and let your sins be strong, but let your trust in Christ be stronger, and rejoice in Christ who is the victor over sin, death, and the world. We will commit sins while we are here, for this life is not a place where justice resides. We, however, says Peter (2 Peter 3:13) are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth where justice will reign. It suffices that through God's glory we have recognized the Lamb who takes away the sin of the world. No sin can separate us from Him, even if we were to kill or commit adultery thousands of times each day. Do you think such an exalted Lamb paid merely a small price with a meager sacrifice for our sins? Pray hard for you are quite a sinner.

Luther's comments about "let your sins be strong" has given some difficulty in this letter. I thing Luther is just saying that Melanchthon should be strong to confess his sin before the Lord. Many play games with words and are not bold in calling sin what it is. Only those who quit relying on their righteousness and trust in Christ's righteousness and substitutionary death can know that they are secure in God's mercy and love. A love that is everlasting. So be bold in admitting your sin so that your trust in Christ's work for you will be strong. No sin can separate us from His love. Even as the apostle Paul reminds us in Romans 8:38-39:

For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (NASB)

Our Suffering Servant

This morning I read Isaiah 53 in my morning study. I was amazed at the depth of material found in this one chapter about the Suffering Servant, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. I thought for a moment that to get the most out of this chapter, it would take a great deal of time and wondered when and how I could do this. A few hours later, I remembered that I had purchased a book some time ago that deals specifically with Isaiah 53.

James Durham was a Scottish Puritan Divine who died in 1658 at the age of 35. He had served as pastor for only eleven years, yet he was a prolific writer during his life. One of his books is titled Christ Crucified: The Marrow of the Gospel in 72 Sermons on Isaiah 53. I guess that Durham had the same thought as I did when he read this wonderful chapter of Scripture. He considered it important enough to spend 72 sermons on it (which is still amazing to me how the Puritans could take passages of Scripture, sometimes even short ones, and preach many sermons on them). In Joel Beeke and Randall Pederson's must have book Meet the Puritans, the following is mentioned about this particular book:

First published in 1683, then in 1686, this collection of sermons was reprinted six times in the eighteenth century. The present reprint is carefully and beautifully done; it uses the 1702 edition as the base text but also takes the other editions into account. . . . This is an excellent book for believers who yearn for a more intimate fellowship with Christ in His sufferings. John Duncan said to a friend who wanted to draw closer to Christ, "Read Durham on the fifty-third of Isaiah at my request. He has much repetition and you may be disgusted with that. But it's repetition of a very fine thing, the eating of Christ's flesh and the drinking of His blood. Well, That's what we must be repeating, in fact, all our life long." The Marrow of the Gospel is one of the best commentaries ever written on Christ's person and work in redemption. Charles Spurgeon highly recommended this book, saying, "This is marrow indeed. We need say no more; Durham is a prince among spiritual expositors." Others have said this work equals if not excels all of Durham's other publications

Another good review of this book is found at The Shepherd's Scrapbook blog. Here is the Table of Contents with the sermons in outline form. The publisher also makes available online the life of the author as well as his Sermon 68 on Isaiah 53:12. Well, my answer on how to dive deeper into this chapter has been answered. I hope to read through one sermon a week to understand Isaiah 53 better and to keep my mind on the sufferings of Christ in my place.

The Cross of Christ - John Stott

I have just completed reading the book, The Cross of Christ, by John Stott. It is a book that Ligon Duncan calls "essential reading" and "classic" with respect to historical significant books on the Atonement. The book was moderately difficult to read, one in which I could not read casually, but had to focus on most often reading without distractions such as music.

Stott places his chapters into four points of the cross: 1) Approaching the Cross, 2) The Heart of the Cross, 3) The Achievement of the Cross, and 4) Living Under the Cross. Stott is quick to interact with various and conflicting theological views throughout the book such as different views concerning the atonement. While not addressing the question of the extent of the atonement, I agree with Ligon Duncan that this work is "a robust and rousing defense of a real, penal, substitutionary atonement."

I especially enjoyed the Conclusion which consisted of an overview of the Book of Galatians with respect to the cross. He concludes with the following statement which I feel is a good summary of the book:

First, the cross is the ground of our justification. Christ has rescued us from the present evil age (Gal. 1:4) and redeemed us from the curse of the law (Gal. 3:13). And the reason why he has delivered us from this double bondage is that we may stand boldly before God as his sons and daughters, declared righteous and indwelt by his Spirit.

Second, the cross is the means of our sanctification. . . . We have been crucified with Christ (Gal. 2:20). We have crucified our fallen nature (Gal. 5:24). And the world has been crucified to us, as we have been to the world (Gal 6:14). So the cross means more than the crucifixion of Jesus; it includes our crucifixion, the crucifixion of our flesh and of the world.

Third, the cross is the subject of our witness. We are to placard Christ crucified publicly before people's eyes, so that they may see and believe (Gal. 3:1). In doing so, we must not bowdlerize the gospel, extracting from it its offense to human pride. No, whatever the price may be, we preach the cross (the merit of Christ), not circumcision (the merit of man); it is the only way of salvation (Gal. 5:11; 6:12).

Fourth, the cross is the object of our boasting. God forbid that we should boast in anything else (Gal. 6:14). Paul's whole world was in orbit around the cross. It filled his vision, illuminated his life, warmed his spirit. He "gloried" in it. It meant more to him than anything else. Our perspective should be the same.

If the cross is not central in these four spheres for us, then we deserve to have applied to us that most terrible of all descriptions, "enemies of the cross of Christ" (Phil. 3:18). . . . Self-righteousness (instead of looking to the cross for justification), self-indulgence (instead of taking up the cross to follow Christ), self-advertisement (instead of preaching Christ crucified) and self-glorification (instead of glorying in the cross) --- these are the distortions which make us "enemies" of Christ's cross.

Indeed a very serious warning. May we never be enemies of the cross.

Book Information

Title: The Cross of Christ - 20th Anniversary Edition

Author: John R. W. Stott

Cover: Hardcover

Pages: 380

Dust jacket: Yes

Indexes: Name, Subject, and Scripture

Publisher: InterVarsity Press (IVP)

Year: 2006

ISBN: 10083083320X